Skype Video Call vs Facebook Video Chat
Facebook is the most popular online social network with over 750+ million users worldwide. Skype is the most widely used video calling software in the world today. Very recently, Facebook partnered with Skype (who is now owned by Microsoft), and now Facebook offers the Facebook Video Chat feature (Skype-powered video calling). This integration is likely to help both companies to increase their popularity even more. Before this integration, Facebook did not have a video call feature, so this helps them to compete with Google+ (which is the newest social network with a video chat feature of their own).
What is Skype Video Call?
Skype is software application that allows users to make video calls (called Skype Video Calls) to each other over the internet. Users can also make PC-to-phone calls. In order to make a Video Call, a user must install the Skype client software on their computer and must register (create a free Skype account). Registered Skype users can make calls to other registered Skype users who are also running the client on their computers. Skype Video Calls between two people are free. But if you want to have a Skype Video Call between multiple users (videoconferencing), then you have to become premium users, for which you have to pay a fee.
What is Facebook Video Chat?
Facebook Video Chat does not offer group chat capabilities. The reason put forward by Facebook for opting out of group chat is that one-to-one video chat is more popular on Skype compared to group chat (but group chat in Skype is a paid product and that could be a reason for this lack of popularity as well). Because Skype is reluctant to remove the pay barrier for the premium user (in order to use group chat), it will take a considerable amount of time when Facebook adds group video chat to the Facebook Video Chat. But if you maintain a list of all your friends on the Facebook (i.e. all your friends are using Facebook), then the Facebook Video Chat is the best option for a one-to-one video chat, specially since you don’t have to download the Skype client or register for Skype (and you can initiate the call from either your home page or the profile page of the friend you want to chat with). However, Facebook Video Chat does not work with mobile phones yet.
What is the difference between Skype Video Call and Facebook Video Chat?
Skype Video Call can be used to call multiple people at once (video conference), but Facebook Video Chat is only a one-to-one video chat. However, Skype videoconferencing is a paid service, while Facebook Video Chat is free for all Facebook users. Another advantage of Facebook Video Chat is that it allows users to use the Skype video chat service (built on Skype’s’ networking technology) anonymously, and even without installing the client (it only requires you to install a small plug-in at the very first time you make a call). Unlike Skype Video Call, Facebook users do not need to be registered Skype users to use the Facebook Video Chat feature. But, a significant limitation of Facebook Video Chat is that, if you have a Facebook account and your friend has only a Skype account, you can’t use Facebook Video Chat to communicate. Similarly, Facebook Video Chat does not run on mobile phones yet. But, one important thing to note is that prior to Skype integration, Facebook did not have a video chat feature at all.